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**
After breaking through to the Soul Elder realm, Ling Xiao did not stay in the academy to cultivate for long. Mu Chen assigned him a mission, or rather, an ordeal: to survive for one year in a Soul Hunting Forest.
After all, always cultivating within the academy, even with the ability to spar with classmates, was ultimately too gentle. Without experiencing true danger and tempering, one would forever remain a flower in a greenhouse.
Ten-thousand-year soul beasts rarely appeared in the Soul Hunting Forest, and even high-level thousand-year soul beasts mostly resided in the forest's core. Nevertheless, it was a habitat for soul beasts; slaughter and danger were inevitable, making it the perfect trial ground for Ling Xiao.
The Star Dou Forest was simply too dangerous; not only were the types of soul beasts there uncountable, but more importantly, even in its outer regions, high-level thousand-year soul beasts appeared frequently—too unsuitable for a Ling Xiao who had just entered the three-ring realm.
Looking at the Gale Demon Wolves and the Vajra Tiger in the distance, Ling Xiao let out a light laugh and murmured to himself, "A thousand-year Vajra Tiger, a thousand-year Gale Demon Wolf, and a pack of little wolves. Not bad. Just enough for me to stretch my limbs."
Seeing that the person who had acted to save them was actually a youth—and a Soul Elder with a cultivation similar to their captain—Liu Kang's expression shifted from hope back to disappointment.
He couldn't help but say, "Captain, is this for real? Though he managed to reach the Soul Elder realm at such a young age with extraordinary talent, he's still just a Soul Elder. How does he dare to step out? Isn't... isn't he afraid of death?"
"Hard to say. But since he dared to show himself, he must have some skill. Even if he can't win, at least he's another Soul Elder. Maybe we still have a chance," Xiong Li said uncertainly, though his fighting spirit had recovered slightly.
"Roar!"
Seeing Ling Xiao, the leading Gale Demon Wolf and the Vajra Tiger roared one after another. This was not only because Ling Xiao had obstructed their hunt but also because they sensed that this newly appeared human was very difficult to deal with.
Although ordinary thousand-year soul beasts did not yet possess intelligence equal to humans, their instinctual perception was extremely accurate—an area where humans were actually inferior to soul beasts.
The sounds of the tiger's roar and the wolf's howl rolled toward him, yet Ling Xiao remained entirely undaunted. His body radiated blackish-red soul power as he took step after step forward. With every step, the aura of soul power on his body intensified.
Once Ling Xiao mobilized his soul power and released his aura, the Vajra Tiger and the Gale Demon Wolf seemed provoked. They stopped roaring and began to growl incessantly while crouching low.
The thousand-year Gale Demon Wolf was the first to attack; with a loud howl, it ordered its subordinates to charge while it followed suit, though it remained at the very back of the pack.
Coldly snorting, Ling Xiao felt a surge of contempt.
This thousand-year Gale Demon Wolf was truly a coward. As the leader of the pack, it shrank back for self-preservation, sending its subordinates to the front for everything.
"To capture the rebels, one must first capture their leader."
Ling Xiao did not release his Profound Sky Axe Martial Soul.
Instead, he jolted both arms, and the soul power light on his body suddenly erupted.
Suddenly, with a bang, Ling Xiao released his soul power externally.
A powerful surge of blackish-red soul power exploded from his body, and using the force of that impact, he shot into the sky, leaving a blackish-red trail of soul power flames behind him.
Ling Xiao rose about twenty meters into the air.
From his vantage point in mid-air, he looked down at the pack of Gale Demon Wolves.
He circulated his soul power and mobilized his Martial Soul's origin. Subsequently, a yellow soul ring emerged from his body. Holding his right hand like a blade, a massive amount of golden light erupted, which was then tinged by a layer of blackish-red light.
However, the dark layer wasn't dense enough to completely cover the gold; eventually, Ling Xiao's right palm was entirely enveloped in a dark-gold radiance.
"First soul skill: Metal Revolution!"
Ling Xiao swung his right palm, and Metal Revolution transformed into a dark-gold blade-light that shot out with a boom. It grew larger as it traveled, eventually becoming a crescent axe-light nearly ten meters long, blasting toward the center of the Gale Demon Wolf pack.
As Metal Revolution approached, a strong instinct of danger pierced the hearts of the wolf pack. Following an order from the thousand-year wolf, over a dozen hundred-year Gale Demon Wolves opened their maws.
A large amount of wind-attribute soul power gathered in their mouths, combining with their bloodline origin to form cyan wind blades that were spat out in unison.
The thousand-year wolf concentrated even more soul power, erupting several cyan blade-lights from its mouth to join the dozen wind blades in meeting Ling Xiao's attack. The two forces collided in mid-air, appearing as though they might destroy Ling Xiao's first soul skill.
However, Ling Xiao's attack was not so easily broken. Metal Revolution was a soul skill born from the Profound Sky Axe Martial Soul combined with the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear.
Not only were the Martial Soul power and soul beast power utilized of extremely high quality, but the resulting soul skill was also extraordinary and not easily blocked.
Metal Revolution directly slashed through the combined attacks of the Gale Demon Wolves. Although it consumed a significant amount of its own power and shrank to about half its original size, it continued its assault on the wolf pack.
Failing to block Ling Xiao's attack, the hundred-year Gale Demon Wolves followed their nature; they no longer obeyed their leader's command to attack and scattered in all directions to evade the strike.
"Boom!"
Metal Revolution finally landed where the wolf pack had originally stood, leaving an axe mark nearly ten meters long on the ground.
A powerful wave of soul power air surged outward, forcing the hundred-year wolves away from the center and ensuring they were no longer clustered together to protect the thousand-year wolf.
This was exactly Ling Xiao's opportunity.
Seeing the thousand-year wolf lose the protection of its subordinates, Ling Xiao's lips curled into a slight smile, his eyes flashing with sharp light.
A powerful surge of soul power erupted, even more intense than before. He left behind a long trail of soul power flames as he dove from the sky like an arrow released from a bow, charging toward the ground.
"Boom!"
The impact upon landing was so strong that the ground collapsed. Ling Xiao took a step forward, concentrating a burst of soul power in his leg.
"Explosive Step!"
With a low shout, a burst of soul power suddenly exploded beneath Ling Xiao's foot, creating a powerful thrust. Utilizing this explosive force and his physical strength, he lunged toward the thousand-year Gale Demon Wolf.
Considering that the Gale Demon Wolf was a wind-attribute soul beast and therefore very fast, Ling Xiao executed Explosive Step in succession.
His form moved like a bolt of lightning, zigzagging forward. He moved so quickly that he left several afterimages behind, while the ground shook violently, cracking and collapsing repeatedly in his wake.
Explosive Step involves condensing soul power at the base of the foot to produce extreme bursts of thrust. It was a soul power application method taught by Mu Chen to compensate for Ling Xiao's lack of speed when facing Agility Attack System Soul Masters.
It did not directly increase his base speed but rather enhanced his explosive power—allowing him to be "as still as a virgin and as swift as a fleeing rabbit," with a momentum like a thunderclap.
Compared to the previous burst of soul power used to soar into the sky and descend rapidly, this application of soul power was more refined, and the consumption was much lower.
Of course, the resulting impact force could not compare to the former; each had its pros and cons, but using them in tandem yielded impressive results.
**
Enjoying the story? Support the translation and get early access to future chapters here: www.patr eon.com/c/FanficTranslator
Thanks for reading!
I have 70 advanced chapter now on Patreon. I will post 5 advanced chapter on Patreon everyday except Sunday